Read this only if you have nothing else to do but note down the angle subtended by the sun (or the moon) at your eye every two minutes.

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Sunday, September 22, 2013

Krishna ni begane baro

'All this is trivial', averred the master. He was referring to asana
and pranayama. He continued, 'All this is for beginners. At the highest
level one is in direct communion with the divine and completely lets
that to operate.

This is a valid view held by many who are
focussed on personal enlightenment. Personal enlightenment is of course
one of the revered goals of Yoga. The underlying statement is that when
that is accomplished, everything that happens through that being is the
most perfect thing that can happen through them and absolutely nothing
more can be done.

But, there are other views. As long as one is
obsessed with ones views, either one will be obsessed with this view or
its opposite. But, when one is more focussed on what is ones own dharma,
views can be discarded. This dharma arises so deep within that it
refuses to bend to lower desires of the being like wanting to be correct
/ be justified etc. At this point, the opposing view is considered
deeply and is integrated with ones view.

One such
(supposedly) opposing view is that every single effort done after deeply
considering the state of the world and ones own place in it, is of
tremendous value. Such efforts, little by little, raise the
consciousness of humanity as a whole. Organic farming, afforestation,
asana and pranayama are just a few in that list. One need not
necessarily worry about personal enlightenment only. For, it is too far
away for most and things that are far cannot be seen clearly. For most,
it is just an idea in the head.

Evolution being such a
complex process, needs effort from many countless little organisms to
push it towards a desired direction. Only because countless organisms
tried to fly, despite failing repeatedly and that too fatally for some,
do we have birds today. Likewise, if we were to direct human evolution
towards producing a society that is less caught up in conflict and
violent self-destruction like the one we live in, countless humans have
to push it towards the right direction. For this one has to look deeply
within and extensively at the world to come up with an optimal response
from oneself. When such forces work in synch, I am sure it is the real
life equivalent of a chorus rendition of 'Krishna nee begane baro'. For
only such a cumulative effort will result in the birth of humans that
imbibe the high nature of krishna consciousness.

A sculpture of the mythical / historical Krishna at the Ramaswamy temple (Kumbakonam)

The masters themselves, I feel, did not magically appear. It is quite
possible that the masters own ancestors (at least a significant in the
immediate vicinity of the family tree) have practised yoga (in its deep
sense) and / or implemented many of its applications (like asana /
ayurveda / chanting / social responsibility etc). For without this, the
master hirself, would not have acquired such a mastery over the lower
self so as to take it and surrender the same at the feet of the higher.

Thus,
may we all work towards contributing ones might in bringing Krishna
consciousness here. There have been many on this path and their lives
have produced varied results such as social change / art etc. But, one
needs to be careful of falling into the trap of imitating the external
actions of personal involved in this. That is why we have many
superficially singing this song and imagining many things about bhakthi.
One needs to be careful about this and has to come up with ones own
unique response. When many such original responses synch up, that in my
opinion, is the chorus rendition of 'Krishna nee begane baaro' or
'Krishna, may you descend into this world fast.'